The Activity based funding: Mental health care National Best Endeavours Data Set (ABF MHC NBEDS) defines information about patients receiving mental health care, funded by states and territories, that is associated with Australian public hospitals.

Mental health care is care in which the primary clinical purpose or treatment goal is improvement in the symptoms and/or psychosocial, environmental and physical functioning related to a patient’s mental disorder. Mental health care:

is delivered under the management of, or regularly informed by, a clinician with specialised expertise in mental health;

is evidenced by an individualised formal mental health assessment and the implementation of a documented mental health plan; and

may include significant psychosocial components, including family and carer support.

This includes services provided as assessment only activities.

The scope of the ABF MHC NBEDS is mental health care provided by services that are in-scope public hospital services under the National Health Reform Agreement 2011. This includes care delivered by specialised mental health services, public hospitals, Local Hospital Networks and non-government organisations (NGOs) managed or funded by state or territory health authorities. This also includes all in-scope services contracted by a public hospital, Local Hospital Network or jurisdiction regardless of the physical location of the contracting public hospital, Local Hospital Network or jurisdiction, or the location where the services are delivered. The ABF MHC NBEDS is intended to capture instances of service provision from the point of view of the patient.

Mental health care provided by services which are not in-scope public hospital services under the National Health Reform Agreement 2011 can also be reported.

Mental health care services that are considered in-scope may take place in admitted, ambulatory, emergency department or residential settings.

Collection and usage attributes

Statistical unit:

Episodes of mental health care

Collection methods:

Data are collected at each hospital from patient administrative, financial and other systems. Hospitals forward data to the relevant state or territory health authority on a regular basis (for example, monthly).

National reporting arrangements

State and territory health authorities provide the data to the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority for national collation, on a six monthly basis. Only episodes which have a formal or statistical discharge at the end of a reference period should be reported.

Periods for which data are collected and nationally collated

Financial years ending 30 June each year.

Implementation start date:

01/07/2018

Implementation end date:

30/06/2019

Comments:

Whilst it is recognised that there may be activity undertaken by non-specialised ambulatory health services that meet the definition of mental health care, it is also acknowledged that jurisdictional system capabilities may prevent this activity being reported through this data set.

While the NBEDS provides guidance on the circumstances in which clinical measures should be reported for specific age groups, it is noted it is a clinical decision as to the most appropriate measure to be used for a particular patient.

Scope links with other National Minimum Data Sets (NMDSs) and NBEDSs

Admitted patient care NMDS

Community mental health care NMDS

Mental health establishments NMDS

Non-admitted patient NBEDS

Residential mental health care NMDS

Glossary items

Glossary terms that are relevant to this data set specification are included here:

Reporting of LSP-16 is mandatory for the first mental health phase of care in an episode of mental health care for patients that are admitted to residential mental health units or ambulatory health services.

Reporting of the LSP-16 is not mandatory if mental health phase of care is reported as Assessment Only.

Subsequent reporting of LSP-16 is mandatory for the commencement of a new mental health phase of care occurring three months after the last LSP-16 reporting occasion.

The LSP-16 should only be reported for patients aged 18 years and over.

The data element is only required to be reported for patients with an ambulatory mental health episode of care.

DSS specific information:

For Activity based funding mental health care National best endeavours data set reporting, the Service contact—episode of care setting, code N data element is intended to be used in conjunction with the Service contact—service date, DDMMYYYY data element to allow users of the data set to identify ambulatory patient service contacts which were provided by an ambulatory mental health care service when a mental health care patient was admitted to hospital.